Resilience wins

I left the flat desert behind me once and for all. The temperatures in the mountains remain high with up to 43 degrees but I can at least enjoy diverse sceneries and cooler nights.
Finally, there is some action again. A dog appeared out of the blue and tried to attack me. At the last second, I jumped off my bike and blocked his attack with my bike. We started a noisy verbal fight while he chased me around my bike - like cat and dog or Tom and Jerry. I called out some nasty swear words and threw rocks in his direction. The Uzbek swear words he used I did not understand. The spectacle must have looked hilarious. Thankfully, he lost interest and took off angrily. Bad loser! The dog looked very sick and I was relieved because a bite far from a city without immediate medical treatment would have been a little disaster.

As I am drafting this post, I notice that it is already my last day in Uzbekistan. I had some very tough days here but I received much aid from the locals. Only today until lunch time, already five cars stopped by to give me water, soft drinks, food and even money (I refused several times but the driver insisted that I would buy water with it). And because that’s not enough, I got invited for lunch twice.
I need to lay down now, not only to digest all the food, but also the marvelous experiences.
Tomorrow, I’ll be reaching Dushanbe where most likely one of the greatest adventures of my journey starts.Read more